I'm looking for a school / clinic / one-on-one training in the Chicago, Illinois-area regarding the use of the lever-action rifle (new Marlin .336 or pre-64 Win 94 ... I can't go 10 minutes without changing my mind and keep putting the decision off).

I have a fair amount of experience with a shotgun - I've shot a fair amount of trap / hunted ... though it's been pretty spotty for the last decade.

I have zero experience with a rifle, and figure I'd really like to completely understand everything there is to know when it comes to operation, maintenance, shooting, scoping, etc. Also, I shoot with the wrong hand (because nobody told me at 16 to take 3 seconds to determine that I'm right-eyed dominant) and I figure if I'm going to spend the dough on the rifle I may as well take the opportunity to re-learn to shoot using the proper eye.

So I've got two questions:

(1) Anyone know of a place near Chicago (Cook, Lake, McHenry, Kane counties hopefully) that's got an outdoor range that offers classes in these basics? Or maybe an individual person who would offer the instruction for me one-on-one? I'm not rich, but like I said if I'm spending the money on the rifle I can spend a little more to learn how to use it.

(2) If not, can anyone give me advice on the types of things I should be looking for? My experience with local gun shops has been really hit and miss (mostly miss) -- and i usually don't leave feeling all that confident. Are their certifications or associations? Things I should be looking for / looking to avoid when it comes to something like this?

It looks like there's a lot of knowledge on this board, and it'd be much appreciated if anyone has any thoughts.

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